This invention involves a device to catch and return pitched balls and recording the accuracy of the pitch.
A major obstacle to developing pitching techniques is that you need a catcher willing to spend the hours necessary for practice and development of the skills required to be a successful pitcher in baseball or softball games. Most successful pitchers have had a friend or relation that was willing to sacrifice the time necessary to develop the young arm. Without that help, development as a pitcher is severely hampered.
Even after the pitcher has developed a satisfactory technique, the coach of the pitcher's team wants to evaluate the pitcher's skill prior to allowing him to pitch for the team and to aid in the decision as to when the pitcher is ready to pitch during a game as a relief pitcher. Presently, the function of catching and returning the ball and of evaluating the speed and accuracy of the pitch is still up to personal observation. There is a great need for an apparatus to provide these functions.
Various devices have been described for tossing balls, recording accuracy, and the speed of pitches. U.S. Pat No. 4,552,120 to Nall, et al describes a batting instruction system throwing the ball from between a spinning tire and a track shifting the impeller toward or away from the track allowing for variation in ball sizes. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,548 to Bedord, et al, a pitching trainer with automatic ball return is described wherein the apparatus is a frame supporting a net enclosure with a target pad, a compression switch to register ball hits, and an inclined ramp on which a home plate indicia is imprinted. The device is equipped with a single wheel throw back mechanism. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,729 to Yancey, a baseball pitcher's practice target is described utilizing separate panels which, when hit, move rearwardly against springs to depress pressure switches to register hits on that panel. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,181 to Parish, a practice pitching apparatus is described utilizing resilient pads which move rearwardly upon impact of a ball against a spring to close push button contact switches to count and register balls and strikes. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,141 to Garcia, a baseball pitching scoring apparatus is described using panels which when hit with the ball move rearwardly against spring-loaded pins which close contact and register hits. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,040,228 to Whitley, a baseball pitching game device again registers hits by movement of a pad against a spring-loaded contact switch. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,399 to Gaudet, a baseball pitching practice target registers the location of a pitched ball by horizontal and vertical cords positioned in a grid across the target area. In International Application W090/12621 to Hall, a baseball batting apparatus utilizes a moving conveyor belt to move balls between wheels to project the balls to a batter. In U.S. Pat No. 4,978,121 to Larkey, a portable pitching practice system is described using flexible plastic or leather stripes (sic) which are moved aside by a thrown ball but offer escape resistance to a rebounding ball. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,304 to O'Neill, et al, a portable practice batting cage is provided utilizing a ball throwing machine. Carts with wheels and lifting handles are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,161,256 and 2,384,235. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,922 to Santavaci, an apparatus for determining velocity and path of a ball is described using velocity sensing devices positioned at both sides of the apparatus directed inwardly to the housing. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,116 to Trzesneiwski, an electric baseball batting game is described using a photoelectric cell to register hits by the batter. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,527 to Park, a velocity and impact sensor is described using a grid of photo detectors detecting a ball passing through the array. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,090 to Kustanovich, a device for indicating force and location of target impacts uses a plurality of layers with a pressure sensitive layer between two electrode layers. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,931 to Burrell, a target baseball game is described using contact switches to register location of hits.
None of these devices satisfy the needs described above or attain the objects described herein below.